Western
Seminary
DIS 520 History of
Fall Semester, 2004
Mary Wilder, Instructor
SYLLABUS
Class meets in BH
207, Thursday,
Catalog Description: The
History of Mission is a study of the dynamic factors God used in the expansion
and spread of His church, from Apostolic times to the
present. This includes an analysis of
the successes and failures in mission endeavors from era to era, with
applications of these lessons from history.
2 credit hours.
Textbooks: [with Library call numbers in brackets]
[266.09/N413] Neill,
Stephen. A History of Christian Missions, Penguin, 1986, second edition
(Required)
[270/L359] Latourette, Kenneth.
A History of Christianity,
Vol. 1 & 2, (Recommended)
Books on Reserve in Library:
[266/J73] Johnstone, Patrick.
Operation World, STL, 1986.
[270/L359 ch] Latourette, Kenneth.
A History of Christianity, 2 vols.; Harper and Row, 1975.
[270/L395] Latourette, Kenneth.
A History of the Expansion of
Christianity, 7 vols., Zondervan,
1971.
[266.09/N413] Neill,
Stephen. A History of Christian Missions,
Penguin, 1986.
[266.0092/T893]
Tucker, Ruth. From
[266/P467] Winter, Ralph, Steven C. Hawthorne, Eds., Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, William Carey
Library, Third Edition, 1999.
Course purpose: This
course will enable the student to trace the main events and personalities
associated with the expansion of the Christian message and church, noting
principles and practices used to accomplish Christ's redemptive mission in the
world up till now. This information is
to give the student a historical perspective in applying these principles and
practices to his/her own ministry.
Course goals: This
course is designed to enable the student to:
1. Be a global
Christian who thinks, acts and prays
strategically, aware of how the world-wide building of the church can be
furthered through his/her ministry.
2. Know the major themes, developments and
personalities in the 2000 year expansion of Christianity around the world.
3. Share this information with others, to
involve them in the excitement of what God is doing on earth, for heaven's
sake.
4. Be a person of prayer, seeing the historical
lesson of the centrality of prayer in ministry.
5. Gain a deeper understanding of God's timeless
and worldwide mission for the Church and His compassion for the souls of all
peoples.
Course Objectives:
1. To enable the student to trace the main
events, strategies, and personalities, associated with the expansion of the
Christianity over the last 2,000 years.
This material will be presented chronologically and geographically.
2. To find the recurring principles, practices
and strategies used to accomplish Christ's redemptive mission in the world up
till now.
3. To encourage the student to develop a
historical perspective in applying these principles and practices to his/her
own ministry.
4. To inculcate an appreciation for reading of
and learning from the lives of those Christians who have gone before us.
5. To discover the central place of prayer in
the task of mission, and to motivate the student to become a person of
prayer.
6. To relate the lessons of the past to the
realities of the present, especially as it relates to our personal life and
ministry.
7. To see how current trends of world mission
grow out of events of the past.
Course procedures:
1.
a. Book of Acts
b. Assigned readings in Neill, Winter, etc.
c. Various missionary biographies
2.
Biographical
report: This is to be a paper of 5 or
more pages, researched and footnoted, with bibliography, about a missionary of
your choice from any period of history.
Look at the life, strategy, approach to mission, the principles and
practices used, and critique the results.
Include your thoughtful evaluations, both negative and positive, as well
as implications for your ministry, present and future. Due
3.
Term paper: This is a paper of 5
or more pages, detailing and developing principles and practices learned in
your reading and study about World Mission history and the expansion of
Christianity. Some of those principles
and practices will be applicable to today's world and to your life and
ministry. That is, in view of what they
did (or should have done), how they did it (or should have done it), and the
results, what are the implications for you and your ministry in today's
world? Due
4. Do reading reports on the books and
articles you read, including the Reading Assignments in the Syllabus. These should consist of the bibliographical
information at the top of the page, followed by a paragraph or so of
information about the reading, summary, conclusions, etc. Another paragraph should give your personal
critique of, and interaction with the information, including a statement about
its usefulness to you. This sort of
reading report is for your benefit, to facilitate your retrieval of this
information for future reference, study, use in sermons, etc. It is a method of making the material useful,
instead of just academic busy work! It
is a most useful habit to form, for a life of continued reading, research and
learning. Turn these reports in as you complete the readings. All of the reading reports are due no later
than the last day of the class.
5. There will be no written exams. I trust you are not too disappointed. Your real examination will be in real life,
related to how well you use the lessons learned herein.
6. Summary of grade breakdown:
Term paper 40%
Biographical report 40%
Reading reports 20%
7. If you have difficulty keeping to
this time-table, please talk to me.
Without seeing me to make other arrangements, late work will be docked
5% for each day.
8. Attendance at all classes is
expected, unless you have talked to me before hand. For those students who audit the classes, you
must attend at least 80% of classes in order to have the Audit
notation on your transcript.
9. Estimation of hours required outside of
class:
Reading 28 hours
Biographical report 12 hours
Term paper 12 hours
total 58
hours
Of course, you need
not feel limited by these estimations.
Be free to spend as much time as you like, over and above!
If you find these
estimations of time required for this course are not realistic, please tell
me! That's the only way I'll know!